


The Piper's Dance

by lynn3737



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tale Style, Falling In Love, Loneliness, Love, Love Confessions, Moral Lessons, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25385956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynn3737/pseuds/lynn3737
Summary: "No," the girl said in a voice as soft as silk. "I am not lost. To be alone is not to be lost."Piper's brow raised. She tipped her head in a manner that reminded the girl of a cat. "So why is it that you have followed me, girl? Surely you have heard wives' tales of this realm.""Because curiosity leads my heart," The girl replied.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 2





	The Piper's Dance

"It's a faerie ring," the girl whispered to herself. These rings were so rare to see, and it was said that stepping into one could transport you to a land of magic and wonder. A land of lovely revels and wild dreams.

But these fantasies also came with a word of caution: once you stepped in, a sacrifice must be made to return to the mortal lands.

Fireflies lit up the field in the dark night, the moon shining down to reveal the circle of stones and mushrooms. 

The girl inched closer, poking at it with a long, skinny stick she'd found lying at the base of a nearby tree. Nothing happened. There was no music, no fey dancing their moonlight dances.

And yet, curiosity still stirred within the girl's heart. She had always been fond of magic, of the tales her mother often told before bed. As a child, she had been deemed imaginative, full of vibrant energy. Now, at seventeen, adults dismissed her as a foolish girl, to still concern herself with fairytales and thoughts of magic.

But at night, when the moon was full and at its zenith in the sky, when it was clear of clouds and full of bright stars, she saw them.

She saw glimpses of colors whirling through the night, of silky wings that gave flight to creatures with eyes as opaque as ink, or as bright as the sun and full of mischief. She would look out her window and see fey children dashing across the fields, chasing each other and laughing a laugh that sounded like the jangling of bells. She would see adult fey whirl each other around and around under the sky as if the only concern they had in the world was to dance. 

And every night, she saw the fey girl. The girl never joined in the revels, but simply sat on the edge, playing her flute for the rest to enjoy. She looked no more than eighteen, herself, but fey could be deceiving. And every night, she would turn her head towards the girl's window, and smile, as if she could see the girl through the dark of the night and the haze of fireflies. Perhaps she could.

Tonight, the girl wished to do more than just see the fey. She wanted to experience the joys of their dance, their exhilaration. She wanted to revel with them. She wanted to be among them. 

There were none but the girl out tonight-the moon was waning. This fey girl, she was calling her. She was reaching out a guiding hand, beckoning her into the circle. The girl could not think of another reason for the fey girl to be here, with none of her brethren to play for.

The girl followed her hand. She stepped into the circle and closed her eyes. Only for a night, she thought to herself. I will dance with the fey only for a night.

When the girl opened her eyes again, she was no longer standing in the faerie circle. Instead, she was standing in the midst of a large room, a looming throne made of twisted oaks and roses at the end of the room. A small, wiry figure sat on the throne, and leather strap encircling her brow. A flute lay across her lap.

Up close, they fey girl looked smaller, somehow. She was ethereally beautiful, as many fey were. When she moved to sit up straighter, it was with a grace that no mortal could ever hope to achieve. Her ears were delicately pointed, but other than that, the girl could not discern any other distinctly fey features.

A myriad of other fey dotted the walls, some with skin like tree bark, others with wings resembling a moth's. The girl caught a pixie's eye, and the pixie bared sharp, pointed teeth at her. The girl quickly looked back to the figure on the rose-and-oak throne.

The fey girl smiled at her. "Welcome to the Rose Court, my friend. I am Piper."

The name hit the girl like a blow. Beware of the Pied Piper, mothers often said to unruly children, Or he will take you away in the night with his cursed melodies.

"You--" the girl started, but Piper raised a hand, and the girl fell silent.

"I am, as you mortals called me, the "Pied" Piper. However, I am not a villain, as your kind has made me out to be. To hear my music, you must be seeking something. You must feel wholly alone within the world. Lost. Are you lost?"

The girl considered this. She had not been lost from her home. She could not think of any reason why she would be lost. Her heart desired nothing more than to dance with the fey, among their beauty and music and magic. "No," the girl said in a voice as soft as silk. "I am not lost. To be alone is not to be lost."

Piper's brow raised. She tipped her head in a manner that reminded the girl of a cat. "So why is it that you have followed me, girl? Surely you have heard wives' tales of this realm."

"Because curiosity leads my heart," The girl replied. "I have seen the fey throw their revels, and though I wished to join without losing myself, you are one of them, and yet you sit by yourself and provide them with their music."

A sound as rough as sandpaper escaped the faerie. The girl realized that she was laughing. She sounded as if she had not laughed in a very, very long time.

"You are asking me why I do not join in our dancing, when my purpose is to lead the lost to our realm? To provide them with their very dreams? Do you not wish to have your dream granted to you?" Piper leaned forward, her hands curving around the arms of her oaken throne. Her eyes were dark, nearly black.

"I wish to dance with the fey, but contrary to what many seem to believe of me, I am not willing to sacrifice my soul for the sake of a beautiful melody," answered the girl. "But you have not answered my question."

"Have I not?" A frown pulled down on the faerie girl's mouth. "My purpose is to lead those who are alone in the world to their deepest desires."

"And who shall lead you to your heart's desire, if you are the one always on the edge of the revels? Who shall tell you that you are not alone, if you do not allow yourself the joy of dancing and experiencing the music within your soul?"

Piper blinked at the girl, as if she were looking at an entirely new person. This was not the simple, misunderstood girl with childish visions of magic that she had intended to lead to her court of roses.

The girl held Piper's stare, even as the pixies within the room began whispering to one another.

"What I think," said the girl, approaching the throne, "Is that you are the one who is lost. I think that you have lost sight of what you truly wish to have and to be." 

"And what, exactly, is that?" Piper narrowed her upturned eyes, tracking the girl's every step.

"Love." The girl bowed in front of the throne and extended a hand to Piper. "Please, dance with me."

"But there is no music," Piper protested. 

"There does not have to be."

"This is a throne room, not a moonlit revel."

"It does not have to be."

The girl looked up at Piper, her eyes shining with the silent request. Hesitantly, Piper took the girl's hand. She was whisked off of the throne in a flurry of skirts as the girl pulled her onto the tiled floor of the throne room. 

A small brownie caught her flute before it reached the ground.

Even without music, the girl moved effortlessly. She was as graceful as a sylph, gliding across the floor with Piper as if she had been dancing with the fae all her life. It was as if there was music in her very soul.

She kept her focus on Piper, smiling as if dancing in silence were the most normal thing in the world.

It was so odd, being one to dance and having no music to accompany their movements, that Piper found herself laughing. The girl joined in, and their laughter became the music. They whirled around the throne room, the girl guiding Piper as pixies and brownies and faeries of all classes looked on at their princess, laughing with joy as the girl pulled her closer.

"It seems I have mistaken you," Piper said, breathless. "You are not as lost as I thought."

"You are lonely here," The girl murmured in reply. "It cannot be enjoyable to feel as if you are not able to have fun. The lost are your people."

"It is my role, as their princess. Those that wander here from your land become my subjects. I provide them with what they need most."

"And what of you?"

"It is my role as their princess," Piper repeated.

"You can choose your own path." The girl spun Piper and caught the faerie against her shoulder. "I will provide music for you, so that you might enjoy yourself as you are now."

"That would mean I must give up my title, my people." 

"What do you desire?" the girl asked. She could feel Piper''s slender fingers as they tightened on her own. She could see the thoughts running through her head in the way her mouth tightened at the corners. 

"I desire to be loved in the way that one loves their friends, their partners. I desire to be loved not for the music I create, or for the power I hold, but for who I am. I desire to be free of this gilded cage."

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to achieve one's dreams."

Piper stopped dancing, then, and simply stared at the girl. The girl was taller than she was, her rounded face and large eyes making her look like a doll. But her gaze was clear, and her smile was kind.

This girl, who had created music out of laughter. Piper could still hear it bouncing off the walls of the throne room, ringing in her head like silver bells. "You truly only wished to dance with the fey."

"And that I have done." The girl nodded. "You have fulfilled my desire. Now, I ask, may I fulfill yours? Will you accompany me back to the mortal lands?"

"Perhaps you may." Piper tilted her head in that cat-like manner once more. "I do not believe I ever received your name."

The girl smiled, her eyes shining. "My name is Melody."

And just like that, Piper was laughing again.

And so Piper returned to the mortal lands with her newfound friend, sacrificing her place in her court for the joy of her heart. She became part of the village, finding far more happiness in Melody's voice and their midnight dances than she had playing for the revels alone.

When Melody insisted that they dance with the fey, as she often wished to do, Piper danced with her. When Piper tired of dancing and once again picked up her flute, Melody sat with her. Her voice was rich and sweet, matching the flute's notes as harmoniously as their hearts matched each other's.

Each held a deep understanding for the other's wishes and desires. Never again would they be lost or alone within the world.


End file.
